Senate President Stephen Sweeeney argued today that beaches that accept federal or state funding to rebuild after Sandy should be free.Star-Ledger file

TRENTON — Senate President Stephen Sweeney said today that some people want to keep beach fees in place because they discourage the working class and poor from using them.

Sweeney, who with state Sen. Michael Doherty (R-Warren) authored a bill to ban towns from charging for access if they accept state or federal aid to rebuild beaches damaged by Hurricane Sandy, said he’s heard that argument while pushing the bill.

“Some people were saying we have a different class of people because we charge beach fees, which was very offensive to me,” he said during a radio interview this morning on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show. “You would have kept me out and my parents and my brothers because we were blue collar ironworkers.”

The bill (S2368) is opposed by many local officials and some shore area legislators. Gov. Chris Christie, while not saying he opposed it, was skeptical of the idea during a radio interview on 101.5fm last month, saying “This is the old Trenton way. Give away something for free and worry how to pay for it later.”

But Sweeney said towns are using the beach fees as a “convenient way to raise revenues” when they could instead save money by sharing services and being more efficient.

“I’ll challenge any single community to let me look at their budgets and I can find money because it’s there,” he said.